facts to back up assertion that Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger would be bad for prices, competition and the future of the Internet

When the nation’s two biggest cable and Internet companies decide to get hitched, it can take a while to crunch the numbers on what that will mean for people.

But new Free Press research shows that the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger would create a media behemoth with unmatched power to raise prices, squash competition and reshape the future of the Internet.

If the merger is approved, all kinds of bad stuff will happen. (Click the thumbnails to get the full scoop.)

First off, Comcast will be the largest pay-TV provider in 104 markets encompassing 65 percent of the U.S. population. (See this map.)

Wait, it gets worse: Comcast’s service area will cover almost two-thirds of the U.S., and it will be the only broadband provider that can deliver Internet and pay-TV services to nearly four out of every 10 U.S. homes. (See the company’s reach.)

And to top it all off Comcast will control half of the truly high-speed U.S. Internet market, half of the TV/Internet-bundle market and a third of the pay-TV market. (See what Comcast will control.)